make sure i know what im looking at

i posted i think about a week ago asking how to setup 2 outboard racks along with my mK and mpc1000....and i got some suggestions to buy a patchbay...well i've been doing more looking around and found this instead.

http://www.alesis.com/multimix8line

When it says "STEREO EFFECTS BUS CAN BE SHARED BETWEEN TWO LINKED UNITS"...does that mean on this unit, I'll be able to plug up to 2 outboard racks (for example and Alesis 3630 and an dbx EQ rack)?


so just to make sure, with this unit...I'll be able to plug up my MPC 1000, Microkorg and my little Casio up all at once, along with any 2 outboard racks....which i'll have control over which channel receives the effects of these racks, right?

That line means that if you have two multi-mix units 'linked' together (via some special multimix only way, i imagine), they can share the ONE effects bus. so your second unit can access the fx send on the first unit.

However, neither of those fx (eq and compression) are really something you want to run via a send, I don't think. They would probably do better on the master out or as track inserts. In that regard, you can run as many outboard processors as you want.

And who told you you need a patchbay?! If you want to mix many signals together, you've got the right idea, get a mixer.

Get a patchbay when a mixer doesn't have enough inputs for you and you've got so much gear you can't have it all plugged in at once. Until then, just mix.

well, a mixer is a lot more money than a patchbay if all you need is routing options for a few bits of outboard gear. modern DAWs are more than capable for mixing duties.

that being said, i have no idea what this persons needs are. plus, mixers are lots more fun to play with than patchbays.

so sorry for bumping this a month later, just got my internet back...

so if they are better off as track inserts,, say i have my eq and compressor both with 1/4 stereo outs....i would need to find a mixer with what? 2 sets of send/return?

i have no idea of explaining this without sounding like a newb. i basically just want to plug my mpc1000 and 2 stereo keyboards into the same mixer and have my 2 racks (eq and compressor) also into the same mixer so that my mpc and keyboards can pick up the effects from those racks and at the same time have control over which of my keyboards/mpc receives the effect of the racks (example, i could apply the effects of the compressor to my mpc1000, but not to either of my keyboards or have my mpc and keyboards all pick up the effects from both racks)

You need a 2 bus mixer. Put your effects on the bus and run whatever you need effects on thru the bus.

check this:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/choosing_a_mixer_p2.htm

The only reason I said you don't want to run them as a send is because, generally, when you run a send FX bus, you mix that BACK into the mixer, so in the end you have the unaffected signal + the effected signal. With compression, and definitely with EQ, you generally want ONLY the effected signal.

Now of course there are ways to use these fx properly and have them set up on a send...you would just need to set the send to pre-fader, and turn down the unprocessed signal volume on your mixer.

One other way (probably best) would be find a mixer like homedude said with different buses and bus outputs...then you can just route the bus out to fx and back into the mixer on a free channel. Then just un-assign the dry channels from the main out, but still have them go to the correct bus. The mackie mixers have an alt 3-4 bus that goes into effect whenever you hit mute that would be perfect for this. That's currently how my studio is set up with compression and exciter.

nogginj wrote:The mackie mixers have an alt 3-4 bus that goes into effect whenever you hit mute

Bong bong...